Hair clipper



Aug. 13, 1957 J. A. MARCHNER 2,302,263

HAIR CLIPPER Filed Oct. 17, 1956 HIS A TTORHEY United States Patent HAIRCLIPPER John A. Marchner, Rochester, N. Y. Application October 17, 1956,Serial N0. 616,495

4 Claims. (Cl. 30-201 This invention relates to hair clipping devices,and more particularly to a hair clipper having adjustable guide membersfor regulating the cutting action, one object being the provision of anew and more useful device of this description.

Hair clippers are commonly provided with combs or guides extendingbeyond the cutting means for protecting the outer end, suitably aligningthe hair and for spacing the cutting means from the surface from whichthe hair is being clipped. It is another object of this invention toprovide such combs or guides which are adjustable in order to permitconvenient regulation of the clipping action, and to provide mechanicalmeans for adjusting the length to which the hair is cut. 7

It is customarily desirable in hair cutting to provide a taper, that is,to clip the hair short around the margins and to gradually increase thelength at which the hair is cut at positions spaced from the margin. Forexample, in cutting hair it is desirable to cut it short at the back ofthe neck and gradually increase the length over the back portion of thehead. Similarly, the hair is out very short above the ears and isgradually tapered to full length at the top of the head. This so calledtapering of a hair cut is a difficult procedure requiring considerableskill and practice, and the attainment of the desired smoothly taperedeffect is difiicult for those not adequately trained and skilled in theart of barbering. For this reason, it is a further object of thisinvention to provide an adjustable guiding means for hair clippers whichmay be readjusted to clip at any desired angle and which will facilitatethe attainment of the desired taper even in the hands of untrained andinexperienced persons.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a clipper havingguiding means adjustable in both longitudinal and angular directionswhich may be adjusted to regulate both the depth and angle of the cut.

Further objects include the provision of a clipper of the abovedescription, that is simple, inexpensive to manufacture, and eflicientin the hands of an unskilled person.

To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvementsand combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the endof the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of hair clippers embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the clippers of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the clippers of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view takensubstantially along the lines 4-4 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the clippers with thecombs or guides in extended position;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the clippers with the guides inextended position;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 with the guides set at an angle, and

Fig. 8 is a view illustrating the use of theclippers for producing atapered cut.

A hair clipper embodying this invention and herein disclosed forillustration, comprises a hair clipping device of known construction,which may or may not be mechanically driven, and which is provided withadjustable guides as herein described. Referring to the drawings, thisdevice comprises a clipper 10 having a body portion 11 which may containan electrical motor and associated mechanical parts for driving a cutterhead 12. Body 10 and cutter head 12 may be constructed according to anyof the designs of the general character described which are commerciallyavailable and well known in the art.

Body portion 11 is formed with a pair of longitudinal grooves 13. A pairof laterally extending threaded studs 14 and 15 carrying knurled thumbnuts 16 and 17 is attached to the sides of body portion 11 in the centerof grooves 13 as shown in Fig. 2. A pair of longitudinally extendingslotted arms 18 and 20 are slidably mounted in grooves 13 with studs 14and 15, respectively, extending through the slots thereof. Studs 14 and15 and nuts 16 and 17 cooperate with grooves 13 and the slots in arms 18and 20 to allow the latter to be adjusted longitudinally with respect toclipper body 11 for purposes hereinafter described. The outer ends ofarms 18 and 20 are bifurcated to form two pairs of ears 22 and 24 oneach side of the clipper body extending inwardly towards each other. Apair of combs or guides 28 and 30 are mounted on cars 22 and 24 by meansof rivets 31 extending through holes 26 in the ends of ears 22 and 24.

The longitudinally extending intervals or slits 33 between the teeth ofcombs 28 and 30 allow hair to pass through to be engaged by cutter head12. The ends of the comb teeth are adapted to engage and slide along thescalp, thereby holding cutter head 12 at a position spaced therefrom forclipping off the hair extending through slits 33 at a length dependingon the distance the comb teeth extend beyond the cutter head. Since arms18 and 20 are adjustable, the combs may be adjusted with respect tocutter head 12, thereby allowing the .length of cut to be adjusted inadvance.

Since each of arms 18 and 20 is independently adjustable, each end ofcombs 28 and 30 may be independently adjusted with respect to cutterhead 12, thereby allowing the combs to be adjusted at an angle withrespect to the cutter head, as shown in Fig. 7. One end of combs 18 and20 is slotted as shown at 36 (Fig. 7) to allow lateral movement ofrivets 31 that takes place when the comb is tilted as described above.When the clipper is so adjusted, it is moved across the scalp with bothcombs in contact with the scalp and the clipper extending atsubstantially right angles thereto as shown in Fig. 8. The adjustment ofcombs 28 and 30 serve to hold the clippers at a predetermined angle tothe scalp, cutting the hair close to the scalp at one end and furtherfrom the scalp at the other, thereby producing a tapered cut.

When the clipper is adjusted to cut the hair very close to the scalp atone end and somewhat further from the scalp at the other as describedabove, and the clipper is moved transversely across the back of thesubjects neck, a smooth and evenly tapered cut is automatically producedeven in the most inexperienced hands. The degree of taper ispredetermined by adjustment of arms 18 and 20 relative to each other,and the overall length of the hair cut may be predetermined by theadjustment of these arms. Thus, when it is desired to give a relativelyshort hair out having a gradual taper from the back of the neck, arm 20may be adjusted so that the ends of the teeth at one end of each comb iswithin, say, of an inch of the cutter head 12, as shown at a in Fig. 7,and arm 18 may be adjusted so that the ends of the teeth at the otherend of each comb is positioned, say, of an inch (11 in Fig. 7) from thecutter head 12. The clippers are then moved transversely across thelower back part of the subjects head with arm 20 lowermost and arm 18uppermost. When adjusted in this manner, the clipper automatically cutsa swath tapering from A of an inch at the lower hair line to /8 of aninch over the width of cutter head 12. When this has been done, arms 18and 20 may be reset with the ends of the teeth at one end of the combs,say, of an inch from the cutter head, and at the other comb end, say,inch from the cutter head, and another pass is made across the subjectshead adjacent to the cut already made. This will result in a swathparallel to, and in contact with, the previously made cut, tapering thesubjects hair from of an inch to /2 inch. The combs may now be adjustedparallel to the cutter head at /1 inch distance, and the clipper maythen be run across the subjects head clipping the hair at the top to auniform length of /2 inch. Additional cuts may be made with the combsadjusted to various lengths and tapers to finish the sides of thesubjects head above the ears, as desired, thereby producing an even,finished, tapered hair cut even in the most inexperienced hands.

It will thus be seen that this invention accomplishes its statedobjects. The combination of longitudinally and angular adjustment of theguides automatically produces a cut having the desired length and tapervThe clippers are guided across the subjects scalp by means of theadjustable guides, thereby cutting the hair to precisely the desiredlength and taper even in the hands of an unskilled operator. The passageof the combs through the hair causes the latter to stand up atsubstantially right angles to the scalp prior to being cut, so that eachhair will be uniformly cut at the proper predetermined length. Thedevice is simple and easily adjusted, and is positive in operation,thereby allowing even inexperienced persons to produce neat and finishedresults.

While this invention has been herein disclosed by reference to thedetails of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that suchdisclosure is intended in an illustrative, rather than a limiting sense,as it is contemplated that various modifications in the construction andarrangement of the parts will readily occur to those skilled in the art,within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hair clipper comprising hair clipping means, and guide meansextending in advance of said clipping means for clipping hair at apredetermined length, means for adjusting said guide meanslongitudinally with respect to said clipping means for controlling thelength to which the hair is clipped, and means for positioning saidguide means at an angle to said clippers for producing a tapered cut.

2. A hair clipper comprising a hair cutting device having clippingmeans, and means for regulating the length of hair cut, said regulatingmeans comprising a pair of comblike guide means positioned on each sideof the cut ting means and extending outwardly beyond said clippingmeans, a pair of brackets pivotally attached to each end of said guidemeans, means for slidably mounting said brackets on said hair cuttingdevice, and means for independently adjusting the position of each ofsaid brackets whereby the outer ends of said guide means may belongitudinally and angularly adjusted with respect to said clippingmeans.

3. A hair clipper comprising a mechanically driven hair cutting devicecomprising a body portion having a cutting head on one end thereof andadjustable guide means, said guide means comprising a pair of slottedbrackets slidably mounted on each side of said body portion, means forreleasably clamping said slotted brackets in adjusted position on saidbody portion, a pair of U- shaped extensions on the outermost end ofsaid brackets, and a pair of guides pivotally mounted on said U-shapedextensions whereby said guides may be longitudinally and angularlyadjusted with respect to said cutting head.

4. A hair clipper comprising a mechanically driven hair cutting devicecomprising a body portion having a cutting head on one end thereof andadjustable guide means, said guide means comprising a pair of slottedbrackets slidably mounted in longitudinal grooves on each side of saidbody portion, screw means for releasably clamping said brackets inadjusted position on said body portion, a pair of inwardly extendingU-shaped parts on the outermost part of said brackets, and a pair ofguides pivotally mounted on said U-shaped parts on each side of saidcutting head whereby said guides may be longitudinlallg and angularlyadjusted with respect to said cutting No references cited.

